Unified Communications

Those of you that know me (or follow the blog) know that one of my key issues is how to improve healthcare communications.  I think this is where we (as an industry) missed the boat.  I used to tease our VP of Call Centers that Dominos knew more about me when I called in than we did.

I was glad to see a blog entry from earlier this year by the physician that leads Microsoft’s healthcare group on this topic.

“Healthcare is a communication intensive business.  Good communication has a profound effect on the quality and safety of patient care.  Communication also has a huge bearing on patient satisfaction.  Yet historically, the options for how we communicate with each other in the healthcare industry have been somewhat limited.” 

Obviously, we have a long way to go.  Many times companies simply give up due to regulatory issues or the challenges of changing behavior.  The reality is that communications are difficult.  It is both an art (i.e., messaging, branding, design) and a science (i.e., linguistics, data mining, targeting, personalization).

Technology will drive a step change in the relationship between patients and providers and insurance companies.  This is the time to jump on board and figure out how to improve.